Lauderdale Survey Shows Support For Preserving Lot

Mayor's Poll Questions Residents On Development

FORT LAUDERDALE - — Their message is resounding: Preserve the beachfront lot at Las Olas Boulevard and State Road A1A for parking or as a public park.

That's the opinion of 95 percent of the 9,121 city residents who responded to a survey by Mayor Jim Naugle, a chief opponent of developing the property.

The results give Naugle the ammunition he needs to push for a voter referendum that would prohibit development of the parcel.

"Their choice is clear to me," Naugle said on Wednesday at a news conference where he announced the results. "The City Commission should put this before voters in the next election."

Naugle, who was re-elected without opposition, spent about $15,000 in campaign funds to mail the survey to 34,986 registered voters in mid-January.

Pressure is mounting to build on the land and bring in property taxes now that Beach Place, a retail and entertainment complex just north of the lot, is open and attracting large crowds.

The city has been approached by a European developer about building a smaller version of Beach Place on the oceanside lot.

Another developer, John Mercede, submitted a proposal on Wednesday to put offices, shops, a movie theater, apartments and a parking garage on the lushly landscaped lot.

The city had sought for years to develop the lot, which was the site of a six-story Holiday Inn that housed the Button Bar. The city bought the property about five years ago and tore down the hotel.

As the beachfront grows more popular, a lack of parking has become a big concern. The oceanside lot is crowded most nights and weekends because of its prime location across from the Elbo Room. The 271-space lot generated more than $500,000 in parking revenues last year, officials said.

The lot, which provides an unobstructed view of the Atlantic Ocean, has been a political hot potato.

City commissioners decided in September to declare a one-year moratorium on developing the land. It was a compromise with Naugle to keep the issue off Tuesday's ballot when three commission seats are up for grabs. Naugle had threatened to collect enough signatures to put it to a vote.

City commissioners could decide to put the question on the ballot this fall. If they don't, Naugle said he would collect about 12,000 signatures needed to put it to a referendum.

It wouldn't be the first time Fort Lauderdale voters had an election on keeping beachfront property off limits. In 1953, voters overwhelmingly agreed to keep land across from the Bahia Mar from being developed. Today that property is a city park and parking lot.

Naugle's survey asked voters whether they supported his plan or City Manager George Hanbury's plan to develop the lot. But Hanbury said he had no such plan.

"It's not George Hanbury versus the mayor," Hanbury said. "I'm hired by the commission and if they told me they didn't want anything there, I would work hard to see that nothing goes there."

Commissioner Jack Latona, who faces re-election next week, said he polled 11,000 voters. He hasn't tallied the results, but said an overwhelming number wanted to preserve the lot.